Hrishikesh Kuluth was a mixed martial arts fighter
The 27-year-old Indian-origin mixed martial arts (MMA) trainee who died in a rare bear attack in northern Saskatchewan, Canada, has been identified as Hrishikesh Kuluth, a fighter who dreamed of competing in the UFC, according to his family.Hrishikesh Kuluth was killed on May 8 while working at a uranium exploration site near Nordby Lake, about 850 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon. He worked as a contractor technician at the Zoo Bay Hotel operated by Vancouver-based UraniumX Discovery Corp.He was from Kerala, India, moved to Canada three years ago and was living in Penticton, British Columbia, with his older brother, according to CBC News.
He had trained in mixed martial arts for more than a decade, first in India and later in Canada, and was preparing to pursue a professional fighting career.His brother, Arjun Koloth, said Hrishikesh’s lifelong ambition was to fight professionally.“This was his dream. That’s why he came here,” Arjun said. “He wanted to fight in the UFC.”He trained at Skuden Martial Arts in Penticton, where his coaches had high expectations for his future.
Arjun said he is scheduled to start working as a boxing coach in Vancouver in June.“A job is just a means to an end,” Arjun said. “The end was the fight.”Arjun said Hrishikesh was brave and committed to his goals. “He’s not afraid of anything,” he said.Arjun added: “Two days’ notice before the fight? It doesn’t matter. The opponent is heavier than him? It doesn’t matter. Win or lose, he just wanted to fight.”Arjun remembers receiving the devastating news early in the morning.“An RCMP trooper came to my door and knocked and told me your brother had died in Saskatchewan,” he said.A civilian at the site shot and killed the bear after the attack. The animal was later sent for a necropsy.Hrishikesh’s brother is now in Kerala for funeral rites, and said he wants his brother to remember him for who he is: “I want people to remember him for what he does. Innocent heart, fighting spirit. Warrior.
I would just say it’s killer [the] bear. That’s it…the bear didn’t attack him. “The bear attacked.”The condition is considered extremely rare. It is only the fourth fatal bear attack in Saskatchewan’s recorded history. The last such incident occurred in 2020, when 44-year-old Stephanie Bliss was killed near her family’s cabin north of Buffalo Narrows.
